A graduation speaker’s role is to give one final speech that will enlighten the audience and give all of the graduating students inspiration to go out into the world and make a difference. Yet, the challenge is finding someone who can invoke such enthusiasm while also being able to relate to all the students. For this reason President Lesley Hallick recognized that the best person to give the graduation speech to the graduating class of 2015 would be a student. Student Body President Olin Blackmore was chosen as the graduation speaker for the May 16, 2015 commencement ceremony.
Hallick informed Blackmore at the beginning of March about his nomination for graduation speaker.
“It’s quite an honor,” said Blackmore, senior. “I really was not expecting it at all.”
After seeing Blackmore as a quirky emcee for the Pacific Greek Stars event in February, Hallick thought he would make a good graduation speaker.
“This might just be a nice capstone to [Blackmore’s] leadership here,” said Hallick.
The university cabinet, which chooses the graduation speaker, had approached a faculty member, who had received an award for distinguished professor, about being this year’s speaker, but the professor had to turn down the offer, because the professor was going to be gone on graduation day.
While Blackmore has recently agreed to be the graduation speaker, he has begun to think about what his speech will address.
“There’s a lot of influence on my life,” said Blackmore.
He explained that his freshmen year all of his roommates transferred and he was considering it as well, but he stayed because of what Pacific had to offer.
“I think I’ll talk about what kept me here, acknowledge certain people and [talk about] what I love about Pacific,” said Blackmore.
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